While Emo Labs wasn’t a heavyweight at CES, they were able to garner some attention for their Edge Motion technology. A demo given to the crew of Technologizer gave plenty to be excited about, and for once the idea of an “invisible” speaker could be worth looking out for!

Evidently, the technology is similar to NXT’s SoundVu that had plenty of issues getting off the ground back in 2005. But, this new system uses “arrays of motors to wiggle the edges of a clear membrane” in order to produce audio, something that SoundVu didn’t do.

Emo Labs optimistically hope to have this concept integrated into the panels of TVs by the end of next year.

Currently all netbook manufacturers are pounding the market with a barrage of netbooks. The intervening lull between successive netbook models is constantly shrinking, leaving consumers spoilt for choice and a tad overwhelmed.

HP is about to launch a new netbook, the Mini-note 2140, in February but a report about its successor has already emerged. Its successor, the Mini-note 2150, will have at least one additional feature in form of a built-in 3G modem, according to Digitimes. The 2150 is rumored to be scheduled for a June launch. Nothing else is currently known about the 2150.

The 10.1-inch Mini-note 2140 will be launched in February with prices beginning at $500.

Is there anybody out there? We're back for our first podcast of 2009 with a lively discussion of CES, Windows 7, Phenom II, the skiing conditions in Utah, and a whole lot more. What exactly is a whole lot more? Well, pretty much it's reader questions and Gordon's rant. (The rant is powered by three weeks of bottled-up rage though.

Do you have a tech question? A comment? A tale of technological triumph? Just need to get something off your chest? A secret to share? Email us at maximumpcpodcast@gmail.com or call our 24-hour No BS Podcast hotline at 877.404.1337 x1337--operators are standing by.

Should you have the misfortune of experiencing a flood or fire in your home, backing up your digital photos, music, documents, and other data probably isn't high on your list of things to do. Even power users tend to put family and pets first, and for those of you that are married, don't forget the wedding album (for the wife) and universal remote (for the husband).

A new product by Solo promises to keep your data safe in the event of a disaster if you don't have time to pick up your computer, laptop, and other devices containing your data. The company's ioSafe is an external USB 2.0 storage unit capable of holding up to 1.5TB, but unlike typical external backup drives, the ioSafe was built to withstand extreme situations. Solo says it can survive temperatures up to 1550° F for 30 minutes and/or being submerged in 10 feet of fresh- or saltwater for 3 days. To prove it, Solo posted a video demonstrating situations you probably (definitely) shouldn't try at home.

The ioSafe is available for preorder (ships January 28, 2009) in 500GB, 1TB, and 1.5TB capacities for $150, $200, and $300 respectively.

It appears the Blu-ray format may finally be picking up steam. At CES, Andy Parsons, president of the Blu-ray Disc Association, described 2008 as a banner year for Blu-ray sales, and the numbers appear to back his claim. Fourth quarter sales saw 28.6 million Blu-ray sales, up significantly from 9.5 million a year prior. There are now nearly 11 million Blu-ray capable players in the U.S., although 6 million of those are PlayStation 3 consoles.

By comparison, in the same three year time frame after release, DVD players totaled 5.4 million units, not far above all non-PS3 Blu-ray players. And with 40 million homes equipped with HDTVs, there's plenty of room for Blu-ray player sales to grow. Helping to do that, 18 new Blu-ray players were announced at CES, including an HDTV with a built-in player by Sharp.

Despite Blu-ray's recent success, Microsoft reiterated it has no plans to integrate Blu-ray capability with its Xbox 360 console. According to Robbie Bach, Microsoft's president of Microsoft's Entertainment & Devices Division, the decision comes down to a combination of not enough users requesting a Blu-ray player, and because it wouldn't help "in the core of what Xbox does, which is gaming."

If you've blinked, chances are somebody has released a new netbook. This time that somebody is Archos, which doesn't come as much of a surprise, both because it's been rumored the media tablet maker would enter the netbook market and, well, who isn't these days?

Archos made its netbook splash at CES unveiling what it's calling the "Archos 10." As the name suggests, the new netbook comes with a 10.2-inch display. Other familiar specs include an Intel Atom 1.6GHz processor, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, a 160GB hard drive, 3 USB 2.0 ports, 1.3MP webam, 4-in-1 media card reader, Windows XP, and a 3-cell battery. Sound familiar? Not only has Archo stayed with what's become standard fare, but the Archos 10 is essentially a rebranded Hasee MJ125, according to Gizmodo.

Finally, someone has announced an iPhone killer that we can all get behind. The Palm Pre surprised everyone at CES with its best-of-all-worlds specs and features. We’re talking about a multi-touch phone with slide-out QWERTY keyboard and a truly innovative web-integrated user interface.

Early impressions indicate a really smooth and fast interface and web-browsing experience, with all the productivity and media features that we’ve come to expect from a modern smartphone. It’s as if Palm designers made a list of everything that was lacking from the iPhone and made a point to incorporate it here. Real GPS, MMS messaging, USB port, and removable battery lets Palm blow a raspberry at the competition. Copy and paste is just gravy. But too bad it won’t be converting iPhone users anytime in the near future – the Pre is a Sprint exclusive.

CES there was a new kid on the block by the name of Disney Star Guitarist that was looking to teach you how to play an actual guitar instead of memorizing the five color-coded buttons.

The game works about the same as guitar hero, little gems float down the screen and once they hit a certain spot it’s up to you to place your fingers in the right place and strum (you can find a video here). Only this time, instead of the aforementioned color-coded buttons, you’re using actual strings, on an actual guitar.

Should the game actually be good enough to hold people’s attentions (read: not just Disney songs), there could be some real value here. After all, as a drummer I can see it as a good possibility for someone that plays Rock Band on the harder difficulties to hammer out a beat on a real kit. Perhaps the same rule could apply, once someone’s had enough opportunities to play “Hakuna Matata” on the 5-string?

As you may or may not remember, it wasn’t long ago that we reported on the potential effect that the struggling economy would have on one of the biggest electronic trade shows in the world. And as it turned out, just about everything was true.

This past weekend, CES drew only 110,000 visitors, down a frightful 22 percent from last year. What’s more, this number is lower than the predicted 130,000 people that were planned as a low point.

For show goers, this provided a noticeably lighter experience. It was far easier to get around on the show floor during prime time hours, cab and monorail lines were rarely seen, and transportation was quicker than ever before.

Sadly, this wasn’t as great for the exhibitors. With far fewer people making an extra trip out to see their products, it was difficult to get a euphoric feeling of years past.

Overall though, CES still served its purpose – it brought us first hand looks at the latest and greatest that the tech sector has to offer. Let’s just hope that the show can get a more solid footing next year, and that this trend doesn’t continue.

Odds are you’re carrying at least one or two devices that double as a portable media player. We’d also bet that if you’ve spent any time at all trying to watch video on such a device—be it a cell phone, personal media player, smartphone, laptop, or pretty much any other device that’s not a DVD player—you’ve experienced compatibility problems. Right now, you need a thorough understanding of the codec, resolution, and container capabilities of all your devices in order to perform an advanced task like ripping a video for use on an alternate player or streaming content from your PC to, say, your Xbox 360 (by the way, we show you exactly how to do that here).